'Dickens and Christmas' by Lucinda Hawksley

Merry Christmas!  The decs are up, the gifts are wrapped and I have a mug of cocoa, so it must be time for a read!  Normally, I'd be diving into the absolute perfection that is 'A Christmas Carol' around about now, but this year, for a change, I decided to uncover the story of the author's relationship with Christmas by reading 'Dickens and Christmas' by Lucinda Hawksley.

Money, Money, Money

Reading the back of 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' by George Orwell sent a bit of a chill down my spine.  Like many people who enjoy writing, I've daydreamed about what it would be like to throw in the towel and try to make it as a full-time wordsmith of fiction.  Here was that same idle thought made 90 years ago and turned into a novel by one of our greatest 20th century writers.  And it didn't sound like it turned out well.  With trepidation, I open the book and began to read...